Saputo (TSE:SAP) Price Target Raised to C$48.00

Saputo (TSE:SAP) had its price objective lifted by National Bank Financial from C$47.00 to C$48.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,BayStreet reports. The brokerage currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on SAP. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Saputo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Ventum Capital set a C$49.00 price objective on shares of Saputo and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$45.00 price objective on shares of Saputo and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ventum Financial set a C$49.00 target price on shares of Saputo and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Scotia boosted their target price on shares of Saputo from C$49.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Saputo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$48.92.

Saputo Stock Up 0.3%

Saputo stock opened at C$44.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.61, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of C$17.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.16. Saputo has a 1-year low of C$36.88 and a 1-year high of C$45.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$40.26 and a 200-day moving average price of C$41.27.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. Saputo had a return on equity of 8.44% and a net margin of 3.29%. The firm had revenue of C$4.26 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Saputo will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Saputo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Saputo’s payout ratio is presently 56.25%.

Key Stories Impacting Saputo

These are some of the SAP stories that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Three reports say National Bank Financial, Ventum and Scotia expect Saputo shares to rise, suggesting supportive analyst sentiment. The headlines do not provide the analysts’ specific price targets or reasoning: National Bank Financial analyst coverage Ventum analyst coverage Scotia analyst coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Joey Saputo has initiated a sale process for CF Montréal and has not ruled out relocation. The reports concern the soccer club, not a sale of Saputo Inc.; the available headlines do not indicate a direct effect on the company’s operations or finances. CBC News: CF Montréal sale process Sports Business Journal: sale and relocation

Saputo Company Profile

Saputo, one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada and a leading dairy processor in Australia. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the top producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products.